1. Technical Field
The invention is generally related to the field of display devices for supporting and displaying items and is more specifically related to the field of locking anti-sweep display devices that prevent or discourage theft of the displayed items by incorporating a locking mechanism. The invention also relates to the field of timed locking display devices that allow the removal of one or a certain number of items from the device during a predetermined length or period of time.
2. Related Art
Peg or display hooks are commonly used in retail stores for displaying merchandise. Several of the same items can be hung on a single hook to display the items for sale. This display method has several advantages, including allowing continuous viewing of the item. When the front item is removed on a single hook display, the next item is visible, which allows several items to be stocked on the sales floor at one time. A single hook display method also accommodates various display configurations because the hooks can be moved about the supporting pegboard wall almost at will. Such hooks, however, also can allow thieves to take many items from the hooks easily and in a very short period of time. The taking of many or all of the in-stock units of a particular product by thieves (commonly referred to as “sweeping”) is a major problem in the retail industry.
There have been many attempts to solve the sweeping problem while maintaining a display that is reasonably accessible and versatile. Some proposed solutions used in conjunction with a single hook display include a locking device on the hook that locks up only a selected portion of the merchandise, leaving the rest available for purchase and removal. While this method exposes only the units in front of the locking device to potential theft, the units behind the lock, disadvantageously, must be maintained, constantly monitored, and moved in front of the lock by personnel in order to be accessible by customers wishing to purchase the merchandise. If a supply of items is not monitored and continuously made available in front of the lock, the customer has to bear the inconvenience of finding an employee to unlock the device to allow the customer to take the item, and the employees must dedicate increased time performing these tasks.
Other solutions to the sweeping problem involve modifying a display rack such that it is more difficult to remove products from the display. Such modifications can include forcing one to manipulate parts or to navigate a crooked track in order to remove the merchandise from the display. These modifications, however, do not provide much deterrence to a skilled thief, but can greatly annoy and potentially deter customers.
Still other solutions employ devices to prevent multiple items from being taken at the same time. While such solutions are generally effective at preventing a thief from sweeping, such devices may not prevent the theft of many individual items and often merely slow the pace of a skilled “sweeper.” As an illustration, if a thief would normally take about five seconds to sweep all of the merchandise at once from a straight, unlocked hook, and about ten seconds to take all of the products at once from a crooked or other type of hook, the deterrent factor is likely to be minimal.
Although there are many different types of peg or display hooks used in the retail industry to display merchandise, there are four basic common designs: a straight hook, a parallel bar hook, hooks incorporating a safety mechanism, and hooks incorporating a security lock. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,547 discloses a display means for supporting and displaying merchandise on a hole-punched display board or the like, comprising a hanger-means and a merchandise container adapted to be pendently supported thereon. The hanger means comprises a bracket adapted to hook into the hole-punched display board and a generally horizontally extending arm adapted to support a container. The horizontally extending arm comprises a pair of generally parallel, spaced wire components joined at their forward ends by means of a loop which is integral therewith, at least one of said parallel wire components being bent upwardly at its back end to form a vertical bar, and then bent forwardly in generally parallel relation to said horizontally extending arm to form a horizontal bar. The vertical bar is secured to a bracket to support both the horizontally extending arm and the horizontal bar thereon. The device also comprises a price tag bracket being mounted on the forward end of the horizontal bar.
U.S. Pat. No. D555,462 discloses a design for a dual arm pegboard hook. This design has horizontally parallel arms terminating on one end with a mounting bracket and on the other end connecting to each other via an upturned lip.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,440 discloses a merchandise hook for the display of carded and/or bagged merchandise having safety features. The merchandise hook is formed of a single, continuous wire-like element and includes upper and lower outwardly extending arms. The upper arm is a safety arm and has, at its outer extremity, a downwardly extending guard means, which may in part comprise an integral, downwardly extending portion of the wire. The lower portion of the display hook comprises a merchandise supporting arm, which terminates at least slightly inward of the guard means carried by the upper arm. The merchandise supporting arm can terminate in an upwardly inclined end portion, so that the end extremity of the lower wire is located behind and, in some cases, just slightly below the guard means depending from the upper arm. A removable attachment is carried by the safety arm at its forward extremity, and forms a plate-like label holder that serves in part to guard and protect the forward extremity of the merchandise hook. The label holder also serves the purpose of providing for the display, at the forward-most extremity of the unit, easy scanning by computer input equipment of a Universal Product Code label specific to the merchandise on display at the hanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,685 discloses a peg board hook and security lock assembly for displaying merchandise. This device includes a vertical mounting plate having on its upper edge a first hook portion for suspending the device from a first opening in a peg board, and a backer plate having a second hook portion, the backer plate being fastened to the vertical mounting plate for securing the lower portion of the mounting plate to a second opening in the peg board. A cantilevered post extending outwardly from the mounting plate and including on its distal end a notched surface and a locking mechanism selectively engagable with the notched surface, provides a point-of-purchase device for displaying merchandise in a reasonably secure manner so as to prevent shoplifting of the merchandise on display.
Accordingly, there is always a need for an improved peg or display hook. Additionally, there is always a need for an improved peg or display hook that has anti-sweep and/or anti-theft features. Further, there is always a need for an improved peg or display hook that allows prospective purchasers to easily view the displayed items, allows actual purchasers to easily remove one or a limited number of the displayed items from the device for purchase, and prevents potential and actual shoplifters from removing more than one or a limited number of the displayed items from the device in a certain predetermined period of time. It is to these needs, among others, that this invention is directed.